The App Store censorship horse may have been beaten to dead, but the German media – now under Apple’s fire – isn’t surrendering. Hopefully, their blitzkrieg will be successful, and the European Union will open an investigation that the US would follow.
The problem is not only about the 5000 titillating apps that fell down in flames after Apple’s latest puritanic raid. Except for apps from well known slippery-when-wet publishing houses like Playboy, that raid closed the smutty graphic category entirely. The problem goes a lot deeper than that, and it has affected mainstream publications.
Freedom of the Press
The polemic in Germany started when Apple took down Stern’s iPhone app without notice. Stern – a very large weekly news magazine – published a gallery of erotic photos as part of its editorial content. It wasn’t gratuitous: It was just part of the material published in the magazine itself, integrated in their usual sections. The entire app was taken down, according to the Spiegel, and publisher Gruner + Jahr had to eliminate that content in order for the application to go up to the store again. They learnt their lesson, since they haven’t published any other material that may offend Apple’s “moral police” – as the German press calls it.
Then came Bild, a large daily newspaper printed by publishing powerhouse Axel Springer AG. Bild also distributes its content through a dedicated iPhone application. This app gives access to its sections from a central springboard. Last December, they released a new mini-app called Bild-Girl, which shows a woman moaning and getting rid of her clothes every time you shake the iPhone with your free hand.
Apple didn’t take that well and asked Bild to put a bikini on the girl. Bild complied. But now Apple also wants Bild to censor the naked girl that comes in the PDF version of the printed newspaper, which is accessible from the Bild application too. Apple is trying to force them into censoring their publication, even while the women are pre-emptively censored: Their nipples are pixelated and unrecognisable in the iPhone-distributed PDF document.
That’s when the Bild editors went ballistic.
It Can Get Worse
I don’t blame them, because I’m going fucking ballistic at this stage of the proceedings too. How Apple can force Bild to change their editorial content? Or putting it another way: If Gizmodo decides to release an iPhone application tomorrow, would Apple take it down whenever we publish a NSFW post that shows nipples?
Probably they would, if they receive enough complaints. (We receive some from time to time, so it’s not out of the question). What about magazines, books, or comic books – like Watchmen and other adult graphic novels – that contain explicit sexual descriptions or graphics? Would those be censored too in the future, if enough people think it’s politically incorrect?
What about other content? Like Bild Digital’s CEO Donata Hopfen says: “Today they censor nipples, tomorrow editorial content.” The Association of German Magazine Publishers agree, and they have asked the International Federation of the Periodical Press to make a complaint to Apple. I agree too: This is just not about the nipples. If Apple had established a firm set of rules about tits and pink beforehand, there wouldn’t be any problem. But this censorship is completely arbitrary and unexpected.
How? Imagine Gawker develops an iPod/iPad application, one that gives access to Gizmodo.com, Gawker.com and all its publications – except Fleshbot, for obvious reasons. Now imagine that we get the scoop of the Next Big Thing from Steve Jobs, and decide to publish it in the app. Would Apple send another letter threatening us to take down the app, perhaps? Would Apple have banned an hypothetical Gawker app when Gizmodo uncovered Steve Jobs’s health problems?
I don’t think that’s a crazy thought. In fact, knowing how things work, I think it’s entirely possible.
And it doesn’t have to be about Apple or tits. There are plenty of applications that have been deemed blasphemous or offensive by Apple, and banned from publication. Would publications showing a caricature of Prophet Mohamed be taken down as well? That would get Phil Schiller plenty of complaint letters.
I don’t really know what Apple may do in these cases. And that’s the problem. The fact is that they forced Stern and Bild to do change their editorial content decisions, and anyone or anything could be next. Apple is a corporation and they can do whatever they want, after all. In fact, that’s the argument of the people who defend these decisions: It’s Apple’s prerogative to do whatever the hell they want with their store.
But knowing that the Apple iPhone-iPod-iPad triumvirate is the largest mobile application platform in the world – practically owning the category – couldn’t that be considered an abuse of quasi-monopoly power? I have no idea. I will leave that question to the lawyers of the Association of German Magazine Publishers. And the lawyers of the International Federation of the Periodical Press.
And if indeed things get any worse, I hope the lawyers at the European Union, and hopefully some commission at the United States’ Senate will give us the answer. [VDZ and Bild (Google Translated) via Spiegel]
Jodi
March 11, 2010 at 9:53 AM
You know what? In the scheme of things, I couldn’t care less about Apple censoring stuff that goes through THEIR store. You all get uptight about this, but nobody gives a rat’s ass about the fact that the Australian Government are hellbent on censoring EVERYTHING on the internet that we pull down in Australia. And Australia isn’t the only one considering mandatory filtering. If you don’t like what Apple does, don’t use their service, don’t put apps up, don’t buy stuff. And get serious about the stuff that actually does matter.
Report Permalinkmatt
March 11, 2010 at 10:24 AM
take a quick search of the site and you’ll see we care quite a bit about the stupid internet filter.
and its fine to say “don’t like it, don’t buy it” now, but what happens when everyone copies Apple? (you know, like winmo7). then wtf are we meant to do??
also, who gives a *** about editorial content! just bring back the nipples!!
Report PermalinkShane
March 11, 2010 at 11:30 AM
I have no issue with the apple app store in principle. It is wonderful idea. I do however, take issue to having no choice in the matter.
Apples big purge at the moment is directed at their new desire to get the ipad into schools. This would immediately suggest to me that they need a new restrict store OR provide a means for other people to configure there own (so schools could provide a “in school” app store that the ipads they provide are restricted to)…hello can-o-worms.
When will they begin filtering content coming through the browser?
As for Australia, sorry, we’re screwed, we don’t have the freedom of speech in this country, the poli’s are to scared that we might actually figure out that we don’t need ‘em.
Report Permalinkklaw
March 11, 2010 at 12:38 PM
“Apples big purge at the moment is directed at their new desire to get the ipad into schools.”
Apple has had iPod Touches in schools for a while now. I met with a school principal just yesterday who has just purchased a bunch of them. If “think of the children” were truly the cause of this purge, surely it would have been done ages ago.
If Apple were truly concerned about adult content in apps, they could easily tag all of the apps containing R18 content, and include an “app fliter” in their next OS update. That’s actually a pretty decent idea for the platform anyhow, schools or no schools.
Incidentally, a school’s internet access is already filtered at the server, so access to smut via the browser is already blocked.
Report PermalinkDONAR
March 11, 2010 at 2:19 PM
“First they came for the nipples, and I said nothing, because I was not a nipple…”
Report PermalinkDavid Anderton
March 11, 2010 at 8:22 PM
Apple can choose whatever they want to censor on their products but they must make clear rules before removing an application. A designer may spend lots of time and effort developing an app only to have it rejected for reasons unknown to him/her. This is the major fault with Apples App store, but it is apples choice to live in a titty free world. It’s up to consumers to vote with their wallets if they want apps with boobs just buy an android phone!
Report PermalinkAl Feldzamen
July 6, 2010 at 7:03 AM
LETTER SENT TO APPLE’S DIRECTORS (SOMEWHAT ABRIDGED) :
To: Directors, Apple, Inc.
Bill Campbell, Millard Drexler, Albert Gore, Jr., Steve Jobs, Andrea Jung, Arthur D. Levinson, Ph.D.
I write to you as one who bought the Mac in 1984, upgraded through the years, wrote two commercial Mac programs (one to handle medical billing in California — I practiced medicine there for decades — and another to simulate a teleprompter, accepted by Toastmasters) . . .
I write about Apple’s suppression/censorship activities of materials for its recent devices. Suppression both for “porn” and “defamatory” materials. Suppression apparently done by functionaries with little or no education or background in literature, political history, the humanities, the arts. etc. And no apparent knowledge of the distinctions between pornography, obscenity, profanity, indecency, etc.
More important is the “defamatory” area. Much attention has been paid to Apple’s rejection of materials from the political cartoonist Fiore, and then the reversal of this when it became known he had received a Pulitzer Prize for his work, said reversal certainly being embarrassing for Apple.
Is this not a totalitarian practice, censoring political material on the grounds that it is “defamatory” ? Something one would expect to see in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Egypt, and other totalitarian states? But it does take some education and background to discern the difference between truly defamatory material and acceptable political discourse. I doubt the censors at Apple have this education or background.
My suggestion: Apple should appoint an Advisory Board composed of highly respected figures of unquestionable stature, including persons knowledgeable in political matters, and persons respected in the areas of the arts, literature, the humanities, etc. This Board would review all controversial materials submitted to the Apple Store, or offered for availability to users of the iPhone, iPad, etc. , thus taking the onus of rejection away from Apple itself.
I send this to you as a long-term user of your products and friend of your corporation, fearing it has lost its way in a damaging manner.
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